Banking the Billionaire (Billionaire Bad Boys, #2)(50)

"Perfect." I hit Georgia's number in my contacts and prepared myself for  one of the best conversations I would probably ever have with her.

"Put her on speaker. I need to hear this."

My body buzzed with the thrill of having a ready and willing accomplice  while I tortured people. I tapped the speaker icon, and Thatch and I  waited, practically bouncing in our seats, until Georgia picked up on  the third ring. "Hey, Cass!" she greeted in her normal bubbly voice.  Thatch smiled out of the corner of my eye. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, not too much. Just heading to meet the parents." Thatch smiled  again, and I decided right then maybe solo gigs were better. This  fucker's attractiveness was distracting.

Everything in my head slowed as I tried to force my concentration back to the conversation with Georgie.

"You're on a plane right now?" Confusion swirled up and out of the phone like tear gas.

"Not my parents."

"Then whose parents?"

"Thatcher's parents. Who else's parents would I be meeting?"

She laughed. "Honestly, I'm not sure. But I didn't think you'd be on  your way to meet his either. I need to get my calendar and mark this  date down. This is a momentous occasion that should be documented."

Thatch flashed me a smirk as he got off the exit for Frogsneck.

"Go ahead and keep that calendar out, because there's a few other dates I need you to mark down."

She groaned. "I'm not watching Phil. I'm busy. Every day until I die."

I grinned, and Thatch squeezed my knee. "How does October 28th sound for  a wedding? Will that give you enough time to plan my bachelorette  party?"

Part of me fluttered at the thought of walking down a multicolored  leaf-covered aisle toward Thatch at sunset. I focused on Georgia instead  of putting the cart before the horse. Pranking our friends was one  thing, but we hadn't even discussed this in any real terms yet. Planning  it in my head might jinx it.

"Huh?"

"Will you be my matron of honor?" A few fake tears pooled at the corners of my eyes. Fuck, they must be missing me in Hollywood.

"Matron of honor?" She sounded baffled, and it made me smile more.

"Are you going to answer every one of my questions with another  question? If that's the case, it's going to be really fucking hard to  accomplish anything in this conversation."

"Are you having a stroke?"

"Are you having a stroke?" I repeated.         

     



 

"What are the signs? I think I might be," she muttered.

"Kline really needs to stop banging you into the headboard, G. I think you're losing brain cells," I teased.

"I agree, sweetheart," Thatch chimed in. "You're not as quick as you used to be."

"What in the hell is going on right now? Kline!" Georgia called away from the phone. "Kline! Get your ass in here!"

A few seconds later, Kline's voice was muffled in the background. "Jesus Christ, Benny. What's wrong?"

"I think something is wrong with Cassie and Thatch!" she continued to shout.

Thatch and I grinned at one another.

"What?" It was Kline's turn to sound confused.

"Something is wrong with Cassie and Thatch! I think they've been  abducted by aliens. Or possessed. Call a priest! I know zilch about  exorcisms, but I know we need a priest. Get Maureen on the phone. I bet  she knows a Catholic priest who can help them," she rambled.

"Give me the phone, baby," Kline coaxed in a calm voice.

A rustling noise echoed from the receiver, and then he was on the line.  "Why is my wife looking through the yellow pages for priests right now?"

"Why does your wife have a phone book is what I wanna know?" Thatch chimed in. "I haven't seen one of those since 2005."

I ignored him and started a conversation of my own. "Hey, Big Dick, how's it hanging? Thatch has a big question to ask you."

"Fuck, honey, I haven't decided yet," he played along. "Can I have two best men?"

GEORGIA would like FaceTime popped up on my phone. I showed it to Thatch, and he nodded with an amused glint in his eyes.

Two seconds later, Kline's face filled my screen. "What is happening?"

"Get excited, Brooks," I said with a smile. "Because Thatch and I are getting married!"

Kline's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything, Georgia's face  replaced his. Her blue eyes were practically bugging out of her head.  "Are you fucking with me right now?"

"Of course not, Wheorgie. I thought you'd be more excited about this. Aren't you happy for us?" I feigned concern.

"No. No. No." She kept shaking her head. "There's just no way. I know you're screwing with me."

Thatch tilted the screen toward his face. "We're not screwing with you,  Georgia girl. Your beautiful best friend is going to be my wife."

I turned the phone back to me, and I had to fight the urge to laugh when  I saw Georgia's face scrunched up in absolute shock. "How many months  do you need to plan my bachelorette party? I know you're busy at work,  and I don't want to overwhelm-"

Her jaw headed straight for the floor. "You're serious?"

I nodded.

She looked away from the screen and took a deep breath. Eventually, her eyes met mine again. "He asked you to marry him?"

I nodded again. "Yes."

"And you said yes?"

"Yes."

"And you want me to be your matron of honor? Because you're really getting married?"

"Yes."

"How are you being so calm about this right now? This is, like, a big  step, Cass. Like, the biggest step you can possibly take into a pool of  lava that will swallow your soul for life."

"Hey!" Kline said through a laugh in the background. She turned to him  with a soft smirk and wild eyes. "Except us. Our marriage isn't like  that."

Kline shook his head. "Yeah, right."

I shrugged and bit back my smile as I went in for the kill. "You know,  the marriage part isn't scary to me. The unplanned pregnancy? Yeah, not  gonna lie, that scares me a little bit. But it has nothing to do with  Thatch being my baby daddy and more so with the fact that my boobs are  already big. I mean, can you imagine what they're-"

She looked like she sucked on a lemon. "You're pregnant?"

"I can't be one hundred percent sure yet. But-"

"You're pregnant?"

"The wedding makes sense now," Kline muttered in the background.

I ignored him and focused on Georgia, giving in a little and changing  the storyline just slightly. "Well, no, not yet. But I think I'm  ovulating, and Thatch is like real virile, if you know what I'm sayin'."

She put a distressed hand to her face. "I think I need to lie down."

"Will you and Kline be the godparents?"

The screen flashed across their kitchen in a blur until it hit the  ground with a loud thud. Footsteps echoed across the hardwood until  Kline's face came into view again. "I'm convinced you're trying to kill  my wife."         

     



 

I couldn't hold back the laughter. "Okay, so the pregnancy thing was a joke, but I couldn't help myself."

His face turned skeptical. "You two are really getting married?"

Thatch tilted the phone toward himself again. "I want Vegas for my  bachelor party, K. But I think Wes should plan it. No offense, but his  pockets are deep and won't have us cruising the Strip in a minivan."

"You've got to be shitting me right now."

"Just hang up the phone, Kline!" Georgia shouted in the background.  "Just hang it up and call 911. I think they've pranked each other into  having nervous breakdowns."

Thatch chuckled and I smirked.

"I want to hear you say it," Kline said, his blue eyes scrutinizing Thatch's face. "Tell me you're getting married."

Thatch stopped at a red light and gave Kline his full attention. "I'm getting married."

"Tell me you asked Cassie to marry you."

"I asked Cassie to marry me."

"Tell me you want to spend the rest of your life with her."

Thatch paused for a few seconds, and then his face lit up with a soft grin. "I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

My breath caught in my lungs when I heard those words pass his lips. His  response felt way too genuine to just be playing along. Half of me had  begged the gods to make him serious, while the other half lobbied for  the exact opposite. Because I needed both to be a reality. Him joking  was the only thing keeping me from freaking out.

He's not joking, the little voice in my head told me, and then answered itself with, thank God.

What in the fuck was happening to me?

My brain screamed one word: love.

My stomach clenched in response.

I fought the urge to slap Thatch in the dick. Or in the face. Or maybe I  needed to slap myself. Someone in this car needed to have some sense  knocked into them.

But my heart? Yeah, it motherfucking smiled.

Kline stayed quiet for a minute, and then his face morphed into a huge smile. "Holy. Shit." His smile got even bigger. "Dude?"